IN A WORLD where celebs are media trained to within an inch of their lives, TV chef Lorraine Pascale is a breath of fresh air.

No subject is off limits for the former model turned baker and she often talks about the trickier aspects of her life unprompted - being adopted as a toddler, finding love again and the pressure to stay thin as a young model.

Just as quickly, however, the subject is closed down. It seems to be just the way she is. She answers every question gamely but clearly feels no need to embellish.

Her directness has served her well in her career as both a model and now as a chef.

After being scouted at 16 by the same model agent who discovered Naomi Campbell, Lorraine moved from her Oxfordshire home to New York, where she walked the runway for Chanel, worked with Kate Moss and became the first black British model to appear on the cover of American Elle magazine. She also became controversial designer John Galliano's muse.

While her beauty may have launched her career, she has her brains to thank for its longevity.

Having the foresight to know that modelling wouldn't pay the bills for ever, Lorraine tried a number of different career paths, including car maintenance and hypnotherapy.

Yet it was only when she discovered baking, having enrolled at the famous Leiths School of Food and Wine, that she knew she'd found her calling.

I was slim but not skinny and I struggled. I could never do it now

Lorraine Pascale

Lorraine, who has a 17-year-old daughter Ella, found restaurant hours didn't suit her and instead carved out a niche as a specialist cake maker.

HER business quickly took off and when celebrity chef Marco Pierre White recommended her to Selfridges Lorraine supplied their food hall with more than 1,000 Christmas cakes.

Her charm and easy-going nature led to her first cookery series Baking Made Easy, which launched as a prime time show on BBC Two in 2011, followed by a string of others plus the requisite tie-in books, all hugely successful both here and abroad.

"I've had to work at it though," "I've had to work at it though," says Lorraine, 42.

"As a model I was used to being much more static in front of the camera and, of course, you never have to speak. It took me a while to feel comfortable, chatting away to the camera."

To be surrounded by food after modelling must have been something of a culture shock.

"Models are so much thinner now," she says. "I was slim but not skinny and I struggled. I could never do it now."

It's amazing that someone who is surrounded by food as much as she is remains so svelte. She laughs: "I've discovered weights and working out using your body weight as resistance. It's the fastest way to get slim and stay slim. I used to run but my knees aren't great so I made the switch. I love it."

While her calorific cupcakes made her famous, these days you are just as likely to find Lorraine blogging about quinoa, kale and protein-packed pancakes.

"Now I focus on feeling strong and fit. My Nutribullet blender comes everywhere with me. I throw in matcha green tea, maca root powder, spirulina, kale and parsley. I love that nothing is wasted and there's no mess."

Taking care of what's going on inside both physically and emotionally is clearly important to Lorraine.

"Modelling is all about the external," she says.

PACIFIC PICTURES

Lorraine works on recipes for healthy bodies as well as being a TV judge

"You can look amazing but your self-esteem can be on the floor.

"I posted a picture on Instagram the other day with the words 'all that glitters is not gold' as so much of life is external," she says.

"Don't judge a person by what you see on the outside. You have no idea what personal demons they are dealing with or what they just left behind them when they closed the front door."

Lorraine won't be drawn on whether this is an opaque" Lorraine won't be drawn on whether this is an opaque reference to her childhood. She was adopted by a couple i Oxfordshire, when her Caribbeanborn parents gave her up at 18 months old.

But her adoptive mother became ill and was for a time unable to care for her. A series of foster homes followed before Lorraine finally returned to her adoptive mother.

Lorraine is now the patron of Tact Fostering and Adoption Agency (tactcare.org.uk).

"Some children are very resilient," she says. But not her? "You think you are until issues start to pop up as an adult. My childhood has meant that I do find it hard to trust that people in my life will stick around, although I have a partner now who makes me happy and feel grounded.

"I do feel that I missed out on family life as a child."

Life is as busy as ever for Lorraine, who as well as working on more cookery books and health and fitness projects (she promises all will be revealed later in the year), has been a co-host and judge on competitive cookery programme My Kitchen Rules.

"It's great fun. It's more about the outrageously flamboyant contestants than the baking.

"It's nowhere near as cosy as the Great British Bake Off," she says. Does she find it hard to dole out criticism? "Nope. I tell it like it is."

Despite having no fewer than six books until her belt, Lorraine maintains that she is not one of these people who just has ideas fizzing around and immediately puts pen to paper.

"I have the idea and then start researching the ingredients to see what works," she says. "I'm all for experimenting. Mess it up and try again. It's how you learn."

The full version of this feature is in the May issue of Healthy magazine, available at all Holland & Barrett stores, selected supermarkets and newsagents.